Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), founded in 1989, is a non profit, policy-oriented, international research center and a think-tank producing high-quality, innovative, interdisciplinary and scientifically sound research on sustainable development. It contributes to the quality of decision-making in public and private spheres through analytical studies, policy advice, scientific dissemination and high-level education. Thanks to its international network, FEEM integrates its research and dissemination activities with those of the best academic institutions and think tanks around the world.

Abstract

REDD+ is a good start for reducing the emissions of carbon from land, but there are more ambitious management practices that might be needed to stabilize the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere almost immediately. Stopping deforestation and degradation (1 PgC/yr), letting forests grow and substituting harvested wood products for energy intensive products (steel, concrete) in construction (1-3 PgC/yr), and re-establishing forests on unproductive lands that once supported forests (1 PgC/yr) could, all together, stabilize the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere for a long enough period (about 50 years) to develop renewable alternatives to replace fossil fuels. Even such an ambitious program, however, might not succeed if the warming of the earth changes current carbon sinks to sources, such as might be expected if permafrost thaws or if tropical forests suffer die-off from repeated droughts. We need a mechanism of debits and credits not only for managed lands, but for lands (and oceans) that are not actively managed, but which may, nevertheless, affect atmospheric CO2. During the event, the Director of the International Center for Climate Governance, Carlo Carraro, will be pleased to announce the winner of the contest "2013 ICCG Climate Think Tank Ranking Award". The competition was created as part of the ICCG Think Thank Map observatory in 2013. With the aim of recognizing the excellence of the main Institutions addressing the climate issue worldwide, ICCG every year publishes a ranking of the best think tanks active in the field of climate change economics and policy. The ranking takes into account the quality of a think tank in conducting research and its role in influencing climate and energy policy.

Speaker:
Richard A. Houghton
Richard A. Houghton is currently a senior scientist and the Acting President of the Woods Hole Research Center. He is an ecologist with interests in the role that terrestrial ecosystems play in climate change and the global carbon cycle. He coordinates efforts to understand the interactions of land and climate, especially the role living systems play in either accelerating or mitigating climatic change. Since 2011, Dr. Houghton has held the George M. Woodwell Chair for Global Ecology. In 1995 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Forest Science, University of Munich. In 2007, along with other lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, he was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And in 2012, he was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Houghton earned his doctorate in ecology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Introduced by:
Carlo CarraroCarlo Carraro is President of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, where he is also Professor of Environmental Economics and Econometrics. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University. In 2008, he has been elected Vice-Chair of the Working Group III and Member of the Bureau of the Nobel Laureate Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is Director of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Programme of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, and Director of the International Centre for Climate Governance. He is a member of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform Advisory Committee and of the Scientific Committee of the International Human Dimensions Programme. He is a research fellow of the CEPR (Center for Economic Policy Research), and CESifo (Center of Economic Studies ), and Associate Research Fellow, CEPS (Center of Economic Policy Studies ). He belongs to the Board of Directors of the Euro Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change.

Working language: English.
Admission free subject to availability. The lecture will be also broadcasted via live streaming. Registration is required. For information and registration: events@iccgov.org or 041/2700442

ICCG International Lecture given by Richard A. Houghton, acting president of the Woods Hole Research Center, 2013 ICCG Climate Think Tank Ranking Award's winner - Beyond REDD+: What management of land can and cannot do to help control atmospheric CO2

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